Door-operating mechanism



A. CAMPBELL. DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

' APPLICATION FILED name. 192:. I a v 1 43 291 Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

air "I llllumil liRGYLE CAZHPIBELL, OF Cl-IICAGE), ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT CDIEEPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

nooe-ornnnrrne Mncniamsrr.

Application filed December 10, 1921. Serial No. 521,291.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LAnornr; CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State, of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Door-Operating liilechanisms, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanisms.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple, eficient and easily operable mechanism for closing doors and maintaining the same in closed position.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide a door operating mechanism especially adaptedfor general service or gondola type of dump cars and in which the operating mechanism for the doors automatically and readily adapts itself to varying conditions to always insure the easiest possible operation.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view of a portion of a drop bottom gondola or general service car showing my improvements in connection therewith. In this figure the section includes only approximately half of the width of the car, it being understood that the car will be similarly constructed on the opposite side of the center sill. Figure 2 is a top plan view of the construction illustrated in Figure 1. And Figure 3 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view corresponding to the section line 3-3 of Figure 1.

In said drawing, the car is shown as provided with an underframe comprising center sills 10, cross bearers or needle beams 11, side stakes 12, and side sheets 13, with an additional longitudinally extending floor strip 14: along the sides of the car. In gondola and general service types of cars, it is customary to provide a plurality of floor doors intermediate the trucks on opposite sides of the center sill. Only one such door is shown in the drawing as it is believed that this is sufiicient to fully illustrate the intention. Such a floor door is shown at 15, the same being pivotally attached along its inner edge to suitable hinge brackets 16 secured to the center sill of the car, the door swinging about an axis parallel to the center sill and with the free edge of the door adjacent the side of the car.

For operating all the doors on one side of the car, I preferably employ a single longi-v tudinally extending shaft 17, the same being supported in suitable bearing bracket castings 18 riveted to thecross bearers 11. Each of, the bearing brackets 18 is provided with a horizontally extending bearing slot 19, the latterpreferably having a shallow depression as indicated at 119 at their outer ends to allow the shaft to drop down slightly when in inoperative position corresponding to the open position of the doors.

Mounted on each door-15 two slidably mounted latches near each side edge, only one being shown in the drawing. is horizontally freely slidably mounted inwardly and outwardly within a suitable housing or guide casting 21 riveted tothe under side of the door adjacent the free edge thereof. Each latch 20 comprises a main stem 22 of non-circular form and preferably rectangular so as to prevent the same from turning or twisting, when sliding back and forth horizontally within the guide casting 21. At its outer end, each latch 20 is formed with a relatively enlarged head 23 having a top horizontal bearing face 24 engaging the under face of the sheet metal door and presenting a shoulder 25 which in turn is adapted to engage with the outer end of the guide casting 21 to limit the inward movement of the latch with respect to the door. The outer face of each head 23 is preferably provided with, a series of teeth 26 which 6X- tend partly around the bottom of the head 23, as illustrated in Figure 1. Each latch 20 islimited in its outward movement with respect to the door, by any suitable means such as the cross key 27 which is adapted to engage the inner end of the guide casting 21 upon extreme outwarc movement of the latch. I

The shaft 17 has secured thereto'at proper intervals therealong, winding drums 28 preferably having helical grooves 29 therein within which are adapted to wind flexible connections such as the chain 30, one end of which is secured to the drum as at 31 and the other end of which is pivotally connected to the corresponding head 23 by a U-shaped link 32 and pivot-forming rivet 33. The U-shaped link 32 is preferably laterally cleare preferably or bars 20, one of such latches Each latch 20 l fiected as indicated in Figure 3 so as to clear the toothed wheel 34 rigidly secured to the shaft and which is adapted to cooperate with the toothed -head-23; I

In Figure 1, the position ofthe parts corresponds to the closed position of the doors and it will be noted that the latch .20 is in approximately its extreme outermost position and the shaft 17 is in its extreme innermost position within the bearing slot 19. To open the doors, the shaft 17 is rotated in a clockwise direction. Due to the fact that the shaft 17 is free to move outwardly within the bearing slots 19' and the latches 20 are free to move inwardly on the doors, the

first action may be eitherthe inward movement of the latches or the outward movement on the shaft, dependent upon which of the elements is under the greatest amount of friction. The relative movements of the latches and shaft, the former inwardly and the other outwardly, continues until the point of load fromthe doors to the shaft passes beyond the free edge of the doors whereupon the latches, if the same have not been pushed fully inwardly, will be forced the remainder ofthe distance inwardly and the shaft 17 pushed farther outwardly'along the bearing slots 19, the doors then being free to fall under the weight of the load thereon and the flexible connections unwinding from the shaft, as will be apparent. In the final opening movement of the doors. the shaft 17 will be forced to the outer end of the bearing slots 19. I

To close the doors, the reverse operation takes place, that is, a rotation of the shaft 17 in a counter-clockwise direction. During the first part of the closing operation the flexible connections will be wound around thedrums and, toward the end of the operation, the shaft 1'? will be pulled in wardly of the bearing slots and the latches pulled outwardly within the guide castings 21. On account of the independent movements allowed the latches and the shaft, the Darts will readily accommodate themselves to varying conditions theefinal engagement or interlocking of toothed or serrated toothed or serrated heads of the latches until the shaft is brought to the position shown in Figure 1.

I am aware that it has heretofore been customary to employ an operating shaft bodily shiftable to a position underxthe floor door of a car and engageable directly with the door or a shoe or the like rigidly secured thereto. Much difficulty has been encountered however in such mechanisms under service conditions due to variations which occur in the-manufacture and assembling of the parts and in operation, particularly with respect to the efiective length of the flexible connection between the points and greatly facilitate t wheels 34 and the of attachment to the shaft and the point of attachment to the door or rigid part thereon and also due to torsion of the shaft. Under the conditions indicated, where there are a plurality of doors governed; by the same operating shaft, some doors or the rigid parts thereon will engage with the shaft prior to engagement of other doors with the shaft,with the result that the flexible connections at some points must stretch or be distorted or the shaft-further distorted or, in the caseof those doors last to engage properly'fwith the shaft 'said doors will not be properly supported. lVith'my arrange,- ment, variableiconditions such as referred to, will be automatically compensated for both during the closingoperation and the opening; operation of the doors by the automatic relative adjustment of the sliding latches and the shaft, permitting them to always properl register, thereby reducing and minimizing th ei'strains imposed upon the parts and reducing the amount'of "power necessary to openand closethe doorsi As will be understoodfloy those skilled in the art, any suitable mechanism may be employed for rotating the shaft 17, such asthe pawl andratchet devices now well'known in the'art. I. have herein shown. and described what I now considerthe preferred manner of car-' rying' outth'e invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate c-hangesand modifications thatcome within the scope of .the claims appended hereto.

1 claim I 1. 1a a door operating mechanism for a vehicle having a pivoted 'door anda frame. the combination with? a rotatable and bodily movable shaft supported from the" frame adjacent the free edge of the door; of a latchmountedon the "door atits'free edge and movable with equal .freedomin osite directions; and afiexibleconnection between the shaft andsaid movable "latch, whereby, when the shaftis .ro'tated,"to close the door, the shaft is movable in one dircctionand the latch in the opposite directionto bring the latch over the shaft to "thereb trans fer the load tothe latter 2. In a'door operating mechanism for a vehicle having a pivoted dooranda frame, the combination with a rotatable and bodily movable shaft mounted on the frame adjacent the free edgeof the. door; of latch mounted on the'door to "slide withequal freedom both in a direction toward and from the pivotal axis thereof at the free edgeof the door; anda flexible connection between the shaft and sliding; latch whereby, when the shaft rotated to close the door, the latch is slidloutwardly of thedoor and the'sh'aft is: moved'in the opposite di rection to bring the latch over the shaft and thereby transfer the load to the latter.

llO

3. In a door operating mechanism for a vehicle having a pivoted door and a frame, the combination with a rotatable and bodily movable shaft supported from the frame adjacent the free edge of the door; of a latch mounted on the door at its free e e and; movable with equal freedom in opposite directions; flexible connection between the shaft and said movable latch, whereby when the shaft is rotated to close the door, the shaft is movable in one direction and the latch in the opposite direction to bring the latch over the shaft to thereby transfer the load to the latter; and cooperable interengaging means on the latch and shaft.

l. In a door operating mechanism for a vehicle having a pivoted door and a frame, the combination with a rotatable and bodily movable shaft mounted on the frame adjacent the free edge of the door; of a latch mounted on the door to slide with equal freedom both in a direction toward and from the pivotal axis thereof at the free edge of the door; a flexible connection between the shaft and slidable latch whereby, when the shaft is rotated to close the door, the latch is slid outwardly of the door and the shaft is moved in the opposite direction to bring the latch over the shaft and thereby trans fer the load to the latter; and cooperable inter-engagng means on the latch and shaft.

5. In a dump car havng a pivoted floor door and cross bearers, the combination with a rotatable and bodily movable operating shaft mounted in said cross bearers adj acent the free edge of the door and extending parallel to the free edge of the door; of a latch movably mounted on the door at its free edge; a flexible connection between said shaft and latch; and a toothed wheel on the shaft in line with said latch, the outer end of the latter being toothed to cooperate with said toothed wheel.

6. In a dump car having a pivoted floor door and cross bearers, the latter being slotted adjacent their outer ends; the combination with an operating shaft rotatably and bodily movably mounted within said slots; of a l tch slidably mounted on the door at its free edge, said latch being movable toward the axis of the door during an opening movement and away from the pivotal axis of the door during a closing movement, said latch having a toothed rounded outer end; a toothed wheel secured to the shaft in line with said latch and cooperable with the latter; and a flexible connection between said latch and shaft, the shaft being movable to a position within the free edge of the door when the door is in closed position.

7. In a dump car having a sump door pivotally attached along one edge: the combination with a bodily movable and rotatable shaft disposed adjacent the free edge iii of the door when the latter is in closed position and arranged to support the door; of a latch slidably mounted adjacent the free edge of the door in a direction inwardly and outwardly with respect to the pivotal axis of the door, said latch resting upon said shaft when the door is in closed position; means preventing turning of said latch about its longitudinal axis with respect to the door; and flexible connection interposed between and connected at its ends to said latch and shaft, respectively.

8. In a dump car having dump door pivotally attached along one edge: the combination with a bodily movable and rotat able shaft disposed adjacent the free edge of the door when the latter is in closed position and arranged to support the door; of devices attached to the shaft and to the door for elevating the latter and moving the shaft to door-supporting position, said devices including, a flexible connection and means automatically adjustable within predetermined limits to vary the effective length. of said devices between the points of attachment to the shaft and door and compensate for variable conditions to thereby minimize the strain on the parts in moving the shaft to door-supporting position, said means comprising an element freely movably attached to the door and arranged to rest upon the shaft when the door is in closed position.

9. In a dump car having a dump door pivotally attached along one edge: the combination with a bodily movable and rotatable shaft disposed adjacent the free edge of the door when the latter is in closed position and arranged to support the door; of devices attached to the shaft and to the door for elevating the latter and moving the shaft to door-supporting position, said devices including, a flexible connection and means automatically adjustable within pre determined limits to vary the effective length of said devices between the points of attachment to the shaft and door and coinpensate for variable conditions to thereby minimize the strain on the doors in moving the shaft to door-supporting position, said means comprising an element freely slidable inwardly toward and outwardly from the pivotal axis of the door and mounted on the latter; and cooperable portions on said shaft and element arranged to register when the shaft is moved to final supporting position.

10. In a door operating mechanism for a vehicle having a pivoted door and a frame, the combination with a rotatable and bodily movable shaft disposed adjacent the free edge of the door and extending parallel to the pivotal axis thereof; of a latch slidably mounted on the door at its free edge, the outer end of said latch being arranged to rest upon the shaft when the doors are in closed position; means limiting; the sliding movement of the leten in both directions; with reepect to the door; and o flexible connection interposed etween and attached at its ends: to said let-ch and shaft, respectively.

11. In door: operating ilieclienisnl for vehicle having steel. door and a frame, the combination wiszh 2i rotatable and bodily movable shaftoisgoee'l aceni the free edge of the door extending parallel to the pivoel zit-lie thereof; of a latchehdebly mounted on the door at iis free edge; means limiting the sliding movement of the latch in both directions Willll respect to ihe door; a flexible connection interyosed between and attached at ends to i l latch and shaft, respeo'ively; a n-1T. eoopereole toothed sections on said latch and shaft adopted to register automatically upon relative adjustment between the latch and shaft during closing movement of the dooi In RVliIlQSS' that I claim the foregoing I have hei'eunt-o subscribed my name this 15th day of November, 1921.

- ARGYLE CAMEQBELL.

' W itnesses:

UNA C. GnIesBY, ANN BAKER. 

